Yellow Roses
by Rhiannon A. Christy
Summary: Molly visits Sherlock in hospital and ends up being confronted with Janine. Sherlolly OS taken in the middle of HLV, SPOILERS! Don't read if you haven't watched S3.


Molly held tightly to the small vase of flowers in her hands. She knew he wouldn't appreciate them; no to Sherlock Holmes they would be nothing more than a frivolous gesture of sentiment. Still, Molly felt better for bringing them, even if he did scoff at her for doing so.

This wasn't the first time she had come to see him, she had been there in the waiting room with John while he was in surgery and had sat silently beside him afterwards. But this would be the first time she had seem him since he had awoken. It was also the first time since she had slapped him.

She knew it may not have been the best reaction; she had never been one for violence; but then again she decided that he needed it. He needed something to penetrate that thick skull of his, to shock him back to rights.

Not that it seemed to have worked, not with what he had done to that poor woman. Well, she said poor…

Rounding the corner to Sherlock's room, Molly found herself face to face with the very woman she was just beginning to contemplate.

"Really didn't expect to see you here." Molly looked Janine up and down, and felt momentarily miserable. Janine was beautiful and elegant where she was still just Molly. She stopped herself from straightening out her blouse and smoothing down her hair, she might not be a model but she also knew for a fact that she wasn't homely.

"Yes well, just tying up a few loose ends. Molly Hooper right?" Janine smiled and held out a hand to the shorter woman. She remembered seeing Molly at the wedding, dressed head to toe in sunny yellow, a color that seemed to match her personality. Sherl had spoken of her many times, as she had to admit about being slightly jealous; he had nothing but praises about the woman after all.

"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you." Molly took the offered hand in a quick shake before pulling back. After only a second she bit her lip and gave into the urge to smooth down her hair. There was a sort of awkwardness with the two of them standing there, neither really knowing what to say.

"So, loose ends? You haven't went and off'd Sherlock have you?" Molly laughed, though with everything that had happened in her life since she had met Sherlock she wasn't sure if she was actually joking or not.

"Sadly no, he's a bastard but still too beautiful of one to kill. I was just…sort of…letting him know what I think of him." Janine quickly looked back to the door before taking a step away, hoping to finish her conversation with the other woman.

"You mean like you wrote in the tabloids?" Molly mentally shook her head at that, she had seen Sherlock's picture on the papers and had quickly bought them…and burned them. Total rubbish if you asked her.

"Just telling the truth." Janine gave a shrug of her shoulders as well as another step forward.

"No you're not." She actually did shake her head at that. If that woman believed that his friends would buy into that?!

"How do you figure that? I was the one in the relationship." Ok, so maybe the seven times in one night was a bit much, but everyone expected you to embellish a bit.

"Besides the fact that he hates that bloody hat; kinky bit there by the way; I know and understand Sherlock." Molly brought the flowers close to her chest, her fingers curling tightly around the vase.

"And so do I." Janine just stood there, the both of them watching the other. After a moment of silence Janine spoke up once more.

"Are you not even a bit angry at what he did? He used me just to break into an office." What bothered her was the fact that she knew that her and Sherl could have been friends, and maybe even more, if he had just told her the truth. She couldn't say for certain that she would have helped him, but she knew her boss was not the most moral man, and she liked to think she would have allowed Sherl to continue his investigation in the manner he wanted.

"Oh, I'm livid, and I'm sorry he did that to you. You are not the only one he has used, admittedly he went rather farther with you, but I have been on the receiving end of his manipulations. I wish I would have realized what he was doing, I would have warned you." Sherlock had a lot to answer for, and Molly planned to beat it into his head if need be.

"I probably wouldn't have listened; chalked it up to jealousy." Not what she really wanted to think of herself, but she knew it was true nonetheless.

"And it would have been at least partly, still I would have warned you. I at least knew he was using me, he has always used me, and I just allowed him." She had not only allowed him, she found herself longing for it, just so she would have his attention on her. It was wrong and destructive, but there you are. At least now he asked her for her help instead of flirting and manipulating.

"And you plan to continue to allow him? Why?" She couldn't understand it, couldn't understand how after everything this woman still clung on to him.

"No, and he knows it now. I'll still be there for him, help him when he needs it, but now it is because he asks and respects me." Not that she thought he wouldn't try and manipulate her again at some point, but that was just Sherlock, he regularly manipulated John just for fun.

"I don't understand it…you."

"No, you don't understand Sherlock." Everyone always thought they had the man read, but Molly knew no one ever took the time to really look. They saw only what they wanted to see, not what was actually there.

"I know what kind of man he is…." Janine thought back to every dinner, every cup of tea, every kiss, word, look, and touch. She knew Sherl, she had to.

"No, you don't, because if you did you wouldn't be walking away. He is a bastard and an arse, but he is also one of the most wonderful men you will ever meet. If you really knew him you would stick it out until he finally was able to see what was before him, because he would. It takes time to find a place in Sherlock's heart, but once you're there you never leave." It had taken Molly a long time to realize it, but when she did, when she saw John carve out his own little spot, she worked even harder to find her own place.

"So if I don't know him, what makes you think that you do?" She didn't want to think that Molly was right, but then again even if she was she didn't know if she would've stuck around. She didn't like being used the way she had.

"Because Sherlock always misses something, and for the longest time that was me. Everyone, including myself, always thought that I didn't matter to him. It is because of that that I know him, he has always dropped his masks and cloaks around me. I learned to read him, and now I can see through every mask he wears." It still amazed her that she could do it, see past the facades he put up around people.

"Even if you are right, you understand that if you go in there he will just end up breaking your heart?" Janine remembered Sherl saying that there was always something, and she didn't like to think that that something was Molly. It left a strange taste in her mouth.

"Most likely, but I'm not going in there with the hopes of love, just of friendship. And I've personally witnessed that while he is a bastard, he is also a very loyal friend." Smiling at Janine she turned and placed one hand on the doorknob. She heard the other woman take a couple of steps, and turned around before she could get too far.

"Just one more thing, did you actually think those articles would hurt Sherlock? Because I've got to say, he might be a bit odd, but he is still a man and you just went and told the whole world that he is a bloody good shag. Not sure that is really revenge." The articles might have been silly, and Sherlock didn't care about sex, but it would still feed his ego.

"Maybe not, he seemed more amused when I showed him, but sex sells." She had momentarily thought about claiming his impotence among other things, but she knew that juicy sex stories sold better. She had even been contacted to write a tell all, the sales of which would set her for life. Maybe it was wrong, but he had used her and broke her heart, she deserved some kind of recompense.

"That it does. Look, Janine, I really am sorry for what he did to you and I hope that things go well for you from now on." Molly gave a soft smile and turned back around to face the door.

"Thank you. And I hope that you are right and that he eventually sees what is in front of him, and that he doesn't break your heart again." Without another word Janine turned and left, her clicking steps echoing through the hallway.

"Me too." Molly took a breath and opened the door to find Sherlock looking straight at her. She knew he had probably heard her conversation with Janine, but she really didn't care, she had said nothing that he didn't already know.

"Come to smack me again?" Sherlock gave a little smirk, though he knew that it was a real possibility that she would hit him. And from what John had said, he guessed he did deserve it.

"Once you are out of hospital, maybe." Molly set the vase of flowers down with the others and sat herself down in the chair beside the bed, her hand reaching over to take one of Sherlock's. She was just a bit surprised that he allowed her.

"Yellow roses?" Yellow like the dress she had worn at John and Mary's wedding, like the color of the summer's sun; bright and smiling like Molly herself.

"Sentiment I know." Molly squeezed his hand, smiling when he squeezed back.

"I'm beginning to see such things in a bit of a different light nowadays. Thank you Molly." He still didn't do romance, but he thought he was getting pretty good with the whole friendship thing.

"For what? The roses?" Blinking, Molly looked back and forth between the flowers and Sherlock, her focus returning solely on the man in the bed when he pulled on her hand. She had to stand up from the chair as he continued to pull until she ended up sitting on the edge of the bed.

"No." Sherlock smirked at the confused face Molly pulled when he didn't explain further. He wanted to tell her about when he had been shot, how she had been the one to show up in his Mind Palace and guide him, but he couldn't find the proper words. How did one express how important another was in their life, how you were sure that you would be dead ten times over without their very existence?

"Sherlock?" Molly threaded her fingers through his, holding tightly as though if she let go he would somehow cease to be.

"So, you're livid with me? Care to scold me, give me a lecture?" Sherlock could feel the pain rush through his body, but unlike with Janine, he refused to turn up the morphine with Molly there.

"You're changing the subject." Molly watched as small tremors moved through Sherlock, her eyes slipping over to his morphine. She blinked at how low it was, knowing he had to be in so much pain. When she looked back at Sherlock she knew he had noticed, and the clenched jaw told her all she needed to know. She just nodded and kept silent on that subject.

"Yes, I am. So, care to prattle off on how I'm a bastard for what I did to Janine and I deserve everything I get when it comes to her revenge?" Sherlock was grateful that Molly hadn't brought up the morphine, though not that the other conversation was one he wanted to have either, but the lesser of two evils and all.

"I could, but I doubt you will listen. I'm sure John will give you an earful eventually, though I do want to say one thing and ask another.

"I always knew you were a good man, even though you used me for years, but then again I allowed it. I never thought I would live to see the day where you would cross that line, but with Janine you did. I can't help but compare your actions with Jim, and that hurts. To see you actually use the feelings of another human being as a tool, a means to an end; it makes me sick.

"I want to hate you for it, because you went even further than he did, actually asking her to marry you. But I can't because after everything I still care about you, and the things I have seen since you have returned has proven to me that you have grown, bar this and the drug thing that is.

"Because of that I'm going to continue to stand beside you, but know that unless you start thinking before you act, you might one day cross that line with me and I will leave." Molly was proud of herself for keeping the tears at bay. She didn't want to think about the day when she couldn't forgive Sherlock, but he needed to understand that she did have her limits and his actions did have their consequences.

Sherlock found himself speechless for the second time in his life. If there was one thing he knew he could always count on, it was Molly Hooper. It seemed as though no matter what he did she would always return to his side. He did not like the thought that one day he would loose her. Finally he took a breath in and held her hand just as tightly as she was holding his.

"So what is your question?" Since he had returned, Molly had continuously surprised him, and he was afraid of just what she would shock him with next.

"The reason you did this, the man you have to catch…is he really so terrible, is all this worth it just to catch him?" John hadn't told her much, only that the man was a nasty piece of work.

"More than worth it, the broken heart of one woman is worth ending this man. Magnusson is the worst sort of human, in that he isn't one at all. He lays in wait until he can smell blood in the water, then he attacks; and he is vicious.

"Molly, I did not want to return to drugs, but I did because I needed to in order to get to him. He must be stopped at all costs." Molly's hand slipped from his and for a moment he felt panic, that his answer had somehow been wrong. Though the sad smile on her face seem to belie that belief.

"That is all then, all I need to know." Lifting her hand to cup the side of Sherlock's face, she couldn't help the giggle when he flinched as though expecting her to slap him again.

"Really? Just like that?" It was strange, the warmth of Molly's hand on his cheek. It was much different than any of Janine's touches, and he couldn't figure out why. It was a hand, a small female hand, pressed lightly against his face, but Janine's had registered as nothing more than the touch of a hand while Molly's made him feel…relaxed. It was bothersome.

"Just like that. Now, you better get some rest and I've got a shift to cover. I'll visit you tomorrow, yeah?" Molly hesitated a moment before leaning over and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. She heard his breath hitch momentarily, but she refused to think on it, she had just taken him by surprise. She pulled back and gave a wide smile as she stood. Without waiting for him to answer, she turned and left.

Sherlock's eyes followed Molly and remained on the door until he was sure she was long gone. He sat up more fully, ignoring the pain in his chest. He had work to do, a deceitful friend to interrogate, and Molly's visit had delayed it.

As he scooted himself from the bed, his eyes landed on the vase of yellow roses, and he couldn't help himself when he smiled widely and laughed. Yellow like her dress, like her personality, yellow like the sun, that could always be counted on to return.

* * *

A.N: Ok, so I know there has been a lot of hate towards Janine, but really I think it all stems from the fact that she got in the way of several ships, because the fact of the matter is she really isn't a bad person.

You could argue that her selling the stories was bad, but then again how many of us could say we wouldn't want revenge on a man that did to us what Sherlock did to her? Though for me my revenge would have been much more personal and private, but Janine found a way to get her revenge and get recompense for the slight upon her.

That being sad, I'm not a fan of her and I don't really want to see her back in S4, but only because I don't like the idea of the pairing, which is duh really, but not because her character was bad.

Anyway, I thought up this while washing dishes, wondering how I would see a meeting between Molly and Janine. I didn't want a huge bitchfest with snide comments and insults. And the fact is that even though Molly has shown that she has a backbone much more in this season, she still has this type of personality that I think makes her more forgiving. So this is how I see her meeting with Janine, and also why she forgave Sherlock.

Don't get me wrong, she is seriously pissed at him, but she understands him enough and knows his methods. She knows that if Sherlock says that the man needs to be dealt with at all costs he had to be right. Just because she loves him and is his friend doesn't mean she approves of his actions, but a friend also doesn't bail because they make a mistake. She won't stand for it is he continues to act like a bastard, and she will inform him when he is being one, but until he crosses that personal line she will stay by his side.

Now, I'm thinking this is going to be part of a larger story and will eventually tie into my other oneshot "Taste" but it will be awhile yet before I write it as I want to finish Cradle and All and then I'm working on one based off of my old OS "Decompression" and then one inspired by The Great Mouse Detective (Which I am really looking forward to writing)

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


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